


To Be Wanted

by Black_cat_nonsense



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Tom and sonic are having a bad day, Tom fucks up, an argument goes sideways, they're cranky lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26917042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_cat_nonsense/pseuds/Black_cat_nonsense
Summary: Tom's been in a bad mood all week. It certainly didn't help that he was stuck in the house with an equally-grumpy hedgehog.But after a pointless argument turns into something much worse, Tom has to face the possibility of losing Sonic forever.(Written for Sonictober day 8, wanted)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 78





	To Be Wanted

Tom paused on his way to grab a work document he left in the kitchen and poked his head into the main entryway. He sighed as he saw the trashbag was indeed still sitting by the front door. He had been reminding a certain blue hedgehog to take it out all morning, yet here it was. Still sitting in the hallway.

Muttering under his breath, he headed up the stairs gingerly. Normally, Sonic being a little slow getting to his chores wouldn't annoy him this much, but Tom was in a lousy mood. He had rolled his ankle badly a couple days ago and was now stuck doing paperwork at home, doctors orders. It was infinitely more boring that any slow day at the speedtrap had ever been, not to mention more painful. It didn't help that Sonic has been almost as grumpy as Tom the whole time. 

He knocked on the attic door, then pulled down the stairs after hearing a muffled “come in!”.

Sonic was fidgeting on his bean bag, looking rather disgruntled at a book in his hands. He flicked an ear towards Tom, acknowledging him. “Hey, bud?” Tom said, a bit strained, “It's been almost an hour and the trash still sitting out there.”

Sonic looked up with a little bit of guilt on his face, before glaring back down at his book. “Yeah, I'll get it in a bit Donut Lord.”

Tom pressed his mouth down in a firm line. He would have loved to just take the trash out himself, but he and Maddie wanted Sonic to have some responsibilities around the house. Help turn him into a responsible adult and all that. And the kid was getting them done just fine until about a week ago, when Maddie started to “homeschool” him a bit. Sonic was a bright kid, but he needed a little help filling in the gaps. 

However, Sonic was struggling with some of the work for some reason and it's been making him prickly. The book he had was no doubt a reading assignment she had given him, seeing how the kid rarely read anything that wasn't a comic book.

Tom took a deep breath, then said, “Sonic, I've told you to take it out an hour ago.”

“I know-”

“Not to mention the many _other_ times I've told you before.”

“I know! I'll get to it, I just need to finish reading this first.”

“You're still reading?” Tom asked, crossing his arms, “You said you were reading that like, two hours ago. How are you not already done?”

Sonic's ears flicked back defensively. “I- give me a break will ya? I'm trying my best, this stupid thing just has too many words!” Sonic said tossing the book down to the floor.

Tom looked unimpressed. “Bud, you have super speed. You could have taken care of the trash in literal seconds. And you fly through all of your comic books.”

“Those are different! It's just, This thing is-, I _said_ I'd-, Ugh!” Sonic snapped, slumping down and glaring at a wall, “You just don't understand.”

Nope. Nuh-uh. Tom was so NOT in the mood to be dealing with this. He stood a little straighter and replied, “Oh, what _don't_ I understand? Other than the fact you've clearly been goofing off all day.”

“I haven't been goofing off!” Sonic said standing up, quills bristling.

“Than what HAVE you been doing, because it clearly hasn't been anything your supposed to do!” Tom said, his voice rising slightly and throwing an arm in the air, “You can't just do whatever you feel like anymore! We all have responsibilities in this household and you've got to take care of yours.”

“Well you seemed to take care of all these 'responsibilities' just fine before I got here!” Sonic shouted back, “If its so important for the trash to be taken out right this second, why don't you do it yourself? You never needed me around to do it before!” His hands balled into fists as he shouted, “Do you even _want_ me here?!”

Tom froze. Sonic's hands slowly fell to his sides as he stared up at him, his face full of anger and frustration and _hurt_. 

Of course. Of _course_ , that wasn't even a question, but Tom's brain felt like it was working through mud. The question lingered in the air.

Sonic took the pause as an answer.

“...Ok. I get it.” Sonic said, glaring down at the floor, “Could've let a guy know before he moved into your house and everything.”

Tom's thoughts were suddenly moving too quickly. 

“Bud,”

“No, no I understand. You took pity on the poor little hedgehog living all alone out in the woods, but didn't actually think about having to put up with him,” Sonic's hands were trembling at his sides but his voice stayed strong, “Or- or you felt like ya owed him something, so you put a roof over his head to balance out your cosmic karma or whatever. I get it.”

“Sonic wait-”

“Don't worry, I hear ya loud and clear. I'll get out of your hair.”

“Sonic-!”

Suddenly Tom was staring at the empty floor. Stunned, he scanned the room fruitlessly, before running down the attic steps. He ran down the main staircase before bursting out of the front door, his shoes and jacket forgotten in his panic. Tom yelled, “Sonic!”, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder, but he wasn't sure Sonic was even close enough to hear it. 

Tom took off across the lawn shouting Sonic's name, leaves crunching loudly under his feet. Sonic could be miles from town at this point, possibly even further. Wait, did he take his rings? Tom couldn't remember. Fuck, what was he supposed to do if Sonic was on a completely different _planet!?_

Every few feet Tom stopped to call into the woods. He quickly made a full circuit around the house. He was breathing heavily when he finally paused, bending over and putting his hands on his knees. His socks had soaked up dew from the damp grass and it left his feet freezing, intensifying the throbbing in his bad ankle. He squeezed his eyes shut as he tried to catch his breath.

A small whining sound made Tom look up. Ozzie was standing in the doorway, head lowered worriedly. Tom glanced back at the woods, then back at Ozzie. Panic and dread were fully setting in now. He dug his phone out from his pocket desperately and dialed her number.

It rang for an agonizing few seconds, before connecting. 

“Maddie, I fucked up.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom sat at the kitchen table, face in his hands and a mug of hot chocolate cooling in front of him. The sun was setting outside, in a few minutes it would be dark. Maddie was moving around the kitchen making her own cup. She always felt better when she was moving, but Tom just sat there feeling numb.

She had immediately left work after he'd called. Together they had combed through Green Hills and the surrounding forest, checking everywhere they thought the blue teen might have decided to hide out at. The community garden, the baseball field, crazy carl's place, they even hiked out to his old cave, but they found nothing. Sonic was gone.

If Tom had a choice, he'd still be out looking, but Maddie had all but dragged him back to the house. She told him that if Sonic were to come back they'd have to be at the house to meet him, and that there wasn't much point looking for him when it was dark out. It was probably healthier anyway. His ears and fingers stung from the cold. His bad ankle had been wrapped but it felt like it was burning.

Tom miserably watched a marshmallow slip under the surface of his hot chocolate. It was just an argument. Why did it only take one argument for Sonic to decide he was unwanted? ….Probably because he just stood there like a fucking dumbass.

The answer was “Yes”. It should have been an immediate and heartfelt _"Yes"_ , God why didn't he say _anything??_

Tom brought his hands down and rested his chin on them, glaring at his mug. 

“What has that hot chocolate ever done to you?” Maddie quipped with an exhausted tone, as she slumped into a seat next to Tom's.

He didn't respond. They sat in silence for a moment. “This really wasn't your fault Tom.” Maddie insisted. 

Tom just sunk further into his seat. “...Why was he even questioning if we wanted him?” Tom asked after a moment, his voice still hoarse. He'd been asking himself that question over and over again. He couldn't think of an answer that didn't make his stomach tie itself up into knots.

Maddie stared into her own mug for a moment. “I think... I think he's scared Tom,” She said, eyebrows furrowed together, “He's been alone for a long time. We've been the first people he's actually had around, I think he's scared about losing that.”

“We should have made sure he wasn't scared then. We should have asked him more questions,” Tom said in a agonized tone, “We don't even know how he ended up alone. What if, what if someone abandoned him and he's traumatized or something? And then I made it worse by not answering the _simplest_ question in the word,”

“I really don't think-”

“What if he decides not to trust anyone again? What, what if he ends up alone forever just because I couldn't-”

“Tom-”

They were interrupted by a sharp series of knocks at the front door. They stared at each other for a moment, startled. Then Tom jumped up and started limping as fast as he could towards the door. Hope seared Tom's chest as he reached for the handle. _Please, please let it be him. Don't let it be some late package, don't let it be Louie needing his generator fixed again, please,_ He held his breath as he swung open the door.

Standing on the porch, with a few new scrapes and red-rimmed eyes, was Sonic. 

He looked up in surprise as the door opened then glared back down at the ground, his arms crossed defensively in front of him. “I, uh, figured I should grab my stuff,” He said, shuffling awkwardly, “Don't, don't want it clogging up your guys' attic, right?” 

Tom didn't hesitate this time.

He immediately scooped Sonic into his arms and carried him inside, kicking the door shut behind them. A few of Sonic's jostled quills pricked Tom but he refused to care. “H-hey, what are you- Oof!” Sonic protested as he was deposited onto one of the kitchen chairs.

“Sonic!” Maddie exclaimed, her voice strained from relief, “Where on _earth_ did you go?! We were all over Green Hills looking for you, don't you ever run off like that!”

Sonic blinked owlishly at her scolding as she pushed a mug of hot chocolate into his hands. Tom left the room for a moment, returning with a blanket from the living room. He knelt down, ignoring his ankle's protests, and tucked it around Sonic's shoulders, also ignoring the embarrassed look on the teen's face. “What were you thinking? It's freezing out there, especially as the sun's going down.” Tom fussed.

“...I have fur,” Sonic mumbled sheepishly.

Tom leaned back and stared at him. He was so, so worried that he'd never see Sonic again. But here he was, sitting right in front of him, just like he should be. Tom scrubbed at his eyes before putting a hand on Sonic's shoulder. 

“Sonic, I'm so sorry. I, I should have said this, I _wanted_ to say this in your room, but you kind of blindsided me there bud,” Tom chuckled with a wavering voice, “We _do_ want you here. I'm sorry if you ever felt like we didn't.”

Sonic stared back with wide, cautious eyes, as if he were waiting for the other shoe to drop. He glanced at Maddie who was nodding furiously. “Sonic, we love you and we don't want you to go anywhere,” She said crouching down on the other side of him, gently cupping his face in her hands, “You scared us half to death when you ran off like that! We had no way of knowing if you were okay or not.”

Sonic looked between her and Tom, then swallowed thickly. “You, you guys really want me here?” he whispered.

“ _Of course!_ ” “ _Yes!_ ” They said at the same time.

Sonic's eyes started welling up with tears, which he tried to wipe away discreetly on his arm. “W-welp!” He said, voice cracking as he gave a wobbly grin, “I hope you're sure, be-because now you're stuck with me!” 

Tom grinned right back before pulling him into a hug, which Maddie quickly joined. “That sounds perfect, hun.” She said, squeezing him tight.

“Now its time to ask you a question,” Tom said, breaking out of the hug with a dorky smile, “Are YOU ready to be stuck being a Wachoski?”

Sonic hiccupped as tears started trailing down his cheeks, but he was beaming, “A-a Wachoski, eh?”

“Yep! Lifetime guar-an-tee! You can't wriggle your way outta this one.” Tom said, putting on a goofy, over-the-top car salesman voice, but he was tearing up as well.

Sonic looked between Tom and Maddie, squeezing their hands tightly.

“Wouldn't dream of it, Donut Lord.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I was going to have a part where Tom and Sonic have a discussion about why Sonic's struggling so much w/schoolwork (hint, adhd, hint hint), but then i fucking forgot lol. I might write that scene out in a bonus chapter later, but this is all for right now! Thank you again!


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